Honorary degree

An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases honoris causa ("for the sake of the honour") or ad honorem ("to the honour"). The degree is typically a doctorate or, less commonly, a master's degree, and may be awarded to someone who has no prior connection with the academic institution^[1] or no previous postsecondary education. An example of identifying a recipient of this award is as follows: Doctorate in Business Administration (Hon. Causa).

Not to be confused with Bachelor's degree with honours.

The degree is often conferred as a way of honouring a distinguished visitor's contributions to a specific field or to society in general.^[2]

Honorary doctorates are purely titular degrees in that they confer no rights on the recipient and carry with them no formal academic qualification. As such, it is always expected that such degrees be listed in one's curriculum vitae (CV) as an award, and not in the education section.^[3] With regard to the use of this honorific, the policies of institutions of higher education generally ask that recipients "refrain from adopting the misleading title"^[4] and that a recipient of an honorary doctorate should restrict the use of the title "Dr" before their name to any engagement with the institution of higher education in question and not within the broader community.^[5]

Historical origins[edit]

The practice dates back to the Middle Ages, when for various reasons a university might be persuaded, or otherwise see fit, to grant exemption from some or all of the usual statutory requirements for the award of a degree. The earliest honorary degree on record was awarded to Lionel Woodville in the late 1470s by the University of Oxford.^[6] He later became Bishop of Salisbury.^[7]

In the late 16th century, the granting of honorary degrees became quite common, especially on the occasion of royal visits to Oxford or Cambridge.^[6] On the visit of James I to Oxford in 1605, for example, forty-three members of his retinue (fifteen of whom were earls or barons) received the degree of Master of Arts, and the Register of Convocation explicitly states that these were full degrees, carrying the usual privileges (such as voting rights in Convocation and Congregation).^[6]

There were also some special cases: for example the critic John Ruskin suffered a physical or mental breakdown in 1840 and dropped out of the University of Oxford. He returned to Oxford in 1842, and sat a single exam, and was awarded an honorary fourth-class degree.^[8]

In the United States, the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree was first conferred as an honorary degree, at Bucknell University in 1852; not until 1861 did any American university award an earned Ph.D. (Yale University being the first to do so).^[9] Over one hundred institutions in the United States conferred honorary Ph.D. degrees in the 19th century, to more than seven hundred recipients.^[10] However, the practice of awarding the Ph.D. as an honorary degree drew condemnation from organizations such as the American Philological Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the board of regents of the University of the State of New York prohibited any university in the state from conferring an honorary Ph.D. effective in 1897.^[11] The number of honorary Ph.D. degrees awarded in the U.S. declined in the 20th century, and surveys by the United States Office of Education found none conferred in 1940 or later years.^[12] One of the last known recipients of an honorary Ph.D. was singer Bing Crosby, from Gonzaga University in 1937.^[12]^[13]

By 2001, about 21 U.S. states had begun allowing public schools to grant honorary high school diplomas to military veterans under a program called "Operation Recognition".^[14] In Ohio, it was unclear whether public schools had the legal authority to grant them until 12 July 2001, when Governor Bob Taft signed a bill allowing public school districts to grant them to honorably discharged veterans of World War II.^[15] Lakota East High School is believed to have awarded the first such diplomas to a group of 20 veterans in May of that year.^[16]

a memoirist and poet who had no earned degrees, but she received dozens of honorary ones and she preferred to be called "Dr. Angelou" by people other than family and close friends.^[60]

Maya Angelou

who received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Knox College in 2006, frequently made light of the concept of an "honorary doctor" by offering up scurrilous medical advice in a segment called "Cheating Death" on his television program The Colbert Report after being awarded a D.F.A.^[61]

Stephen Colbert

who received an honorary master's degree from The College of William and Mary in 1756, and doctorates from the University of St. Andrews in 1759 and the University of Oxford in 1762 for his scientific accomplishments. He thereafter referred to himself as "Doctor Franklin".^[62]

Benjamin Franklin

former Peruvian president and politician, who for many years held the title of Dr. in official presentations as head of state and as a civilian throughout his political career. Heavily criticized by the media when discovering his last degree to be a master's in economic development and not completing his doctoral studies in law, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Delhi in 1987, while making an official visit to India in his first term as president.^[63]

Alan García

an author and lexicographer, who had some years earlier been unable (due to financial considerations) to complete his undergraduate studies at Pembroke College, Oxford, was awarded the degree of Master of Arts by diploma in 1755, in recognition of his scholarly achievements.^[64] In 1765, Trinity College, Dublin awarded him the degree of Doctor of Laws^[65] and in 1775 Oxford bestowed upon him the degree of Doctor of Civil Law by diploma.^[66]

Samuel Johnson

who invented the Land Camera instant camera, and was a co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation, received an honorary doctorate from Harvard University and was often referred to as "Dr. Land", though he did not have any earned degree.^[67]

Edwin H. Land

the founder of the Free Software Foundation in the field of information technology, has been awarded fourteen honorary doctorates from various international educational institutions from 1996 through 2014 including the North American Lakehead University in 2009, and now refers to himself as "Dr. Richard Stallman" in speeches, talks, videos, and email.^[68]^[69]^[70]

Richard Stallman

the first president of Indonesia, was awarded 26 honorary doctorates from various international universities including Columbia University, the University of Michigan, the University of Berlin, the Al-Azhar University, the University of Belgrade, the Lomonosov University and many more; and also from domestic universities, including the Universitas Gadjah Mada, the Universitas Indonesia, the Bandung Institute of Technology, and the Universitas Padjadjaran. He had often been referred to by the Indonesian Government at the time as "Dr. Ir. Sukarno",^[71] combined with his engineer's degree (Ir.) from Bandung Institute of Technology.

Sukarno

a respected elder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, taught at the Oconaluftee Job Corps in Cherokee for more than 20 years, and subsequently worked in outreach and education at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, where he shared his extensive knowledge of tribal history and culture with thousands of visitors. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters at the commencement at Western Carolina University, 2017.^[72]

Jeremiah Wolfe

By convention, recipients of honorary doctorates do not use the title "Dr" in general correspondence. Recipients are not addressed orally or in writing as "Dr" by other academic institutions – and not correctly addressed as "Dr" in their professional/personal life. They continue to be addressed orally and in writing with the form of address to which they entitled prior to receiving the honor. E.g., Mr./Ms./Mrs. ^[57]^[58] However, this social convention is not always scrupulously observed.^[59] Notable people who have used the honorary prefix include: